Holdall, suitcase, or the like



April 10, 1945. E. E. LANGFORD ET AL 2,373,573 v Filed Nov. 30, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 A Home I Garneil.

April 0,1945. E. E. LANGFORD IQTI'AL 2,373,573

HOLDALL, SUIT CASE, OR THE LIKE F iled Nov. so, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventor: Erncsl' Edward L any/( 1761 art/ 1r T/wmas G'arnel Attorney Patented Apr. ll), 1945 I nowAL- SUITCASE, on THE LIKE, I

' Edwar Lan r the Ar ur was Garnett,.l .o ndon, England, assignors to'A. J. -eenmmaea Lo England I Ap lication November 30, 1943, Serial No.. 512,311).

' fireatBrly 94 I eems 1 n n ion has tr v lin means weeh-endsuit cases dress cases and the like of the ibl or llapsible' ne hav n walls of a flexible nature, such e. g, composed .of

t a bbin Q so t ather- 1 1:01. con ai usually open at the top and are sometimes. pro: vided with a closure ilapo; lid so that. they have to be packed byv holding open the mouth and lac n the ar iele upon the ba e-o the: .contain'erj Packing such containers neatly without del a in the art cle th e n szdifficult and when thef con er is closed the handles are located on oppos e sides of the mouth and this arrangement is roundto throw excessive strain on th container and packed articles. -The more usual suit case has arig-id lid, or a lid'of soft ma r iri a i irl iram and a rigid body part and the handle is located. in the centred-f one side wall; The-latter rigid'type is'more .con-. venient to pack but is heavy to carry and-exe e t ew??? .i -i is ag eed u itrdura-ble article, and when empty is undesirably bulkyeven if its walls incorporate concertina-like collapsible parts. Anobject of thisinvention is to provide a holdall, suit case or the like which has the advantages of both of these types of containers and none of the said'disadvantages.

Another object of this invention is to provide a travelling case, holdall or the like (hereinafter referred to as a travelling case) which is in the form of two longitudinal foldable side walls, two collapsible end walls adapted to be folded towards each other, a base and a flap-like prolongation of the upper part of one of the side walls, said side walls being adapted to fold between their upper and lower edges inwards towards each other so that theupper edges of such end walls are folded close to each other and to the upper edge of one of the side walls and obscured by the said flap-like prolongation of the other wall, a handle on'the latter wall and a cooperating handle on' the beforesaid base for carrying the bag whereby said base becomes a substantially upright side of the bag when closed and being carried by said handles.

An embodiment oi the invention is illustrated by the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figs. 1 and 2 are prospective views of the case open, looking at the top and base respectively.

Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation on the line Elm-3a of Fig. 1, and l Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the case closed. Referring to the'drawings the travelling case, which preferably is slightly larger in dimensions than the customary'brief b ag preferably comprises .a single panel l of suitable flexible mate.- rialsuch as wbbingor leatl'n z-r,- forming when the bag is fully opened for packing-a base-2, a longitudinal wall 3 the full depth vofithe bag and a longitudinal .wall .4 which; for alpurpose'hereih after explained, is prolonged above; the mouth of the open bag to form .a, flap :5 which is preterably stiffened by a lining .6 of cardboard or other suitable material covered with linen; or stiff leather in addition to two narrow stiffening strips 1 applied to the" upper parts of the walls 3 and 4.- Two rectangular end walls 8 and 9 are secured by their appropriate edges to'the end edges .or the panel I to complete the collapsible substan tially rectangular case. i

The flap 5 is narrower than the fulltransverse dimension across the open mouth 'of' the bag,- and the bag is closed by collapsing the end ".walls"8 and 9 substantially, concertina'fashion and told ing the longitudinal walls 3 and .4 towards each other so that practically the full widtl i of the flap 5 overlaps the upper portion of the side .wall

3 and is secured thereto to maintain the "bag closed, e. 'g.' bya pair of leather o'r'li'ke tongues l 0' on the fiap '5 and buckles H on the fre'e ends side wall 4 now combine to make one longitudinal substantially vertical side of the bag when the bag is being carried by two handles l4 and 15, the other vertical side of the bag now comprisingwhat was originally the base 2 (of the open bag) and the balance of the. sidewall 4. For this purpose the handle I4 is anchored to Ds H5 (or other suitable members) on the side wall 4 (of the fully opened bag) and the handle I5 is likewise anchored to Ds I! to the base 2 (of the fully opened bag), this latter anchorage being near the junction of such base .2 and side wall 4, and consequently the lower part of the side wall 3 (of the fully opened bag) now becomes the base of the bag.

By reason of the foregoing it will be appreciated that the case or bag is chiefly characterised in that a substantially vertical side of the closed bag when in the normal carrying position is adapted to be substantially fully opened to provide in combination with the normal base of the closed bag or case one vertical side wall of the opened bag or case and with the normal top of the closed bag the other vertical side wall of the opened bag having a depth equal to the full depth of the extended end walls, and that the remaining vertical side of the closed bag comprises the base of the opened bag, so that the depth of the opened bag is appreciably greater than the width of the base part of the closed bag.

Each collapsible end wall has a seam it formed across it about midway between its free edge l9 and its junction to the base 2 of the opened bag, to divide each such end well into a top portion which collapses concertina fashion when the corresponding upper part of the wall 3 i folded inwards when closing the bag, and although the parts of the end walls of the open bag which lie beneath these two horizontal seams l8 are free to collapse they normally maintain substantially their full distension to afford neat end walls of the closed bag.

To facilitate packing, means is provided to temporarily stifien or brace up the walls of the open bag or case, and for this purpose at each end of the bag two oblong stiff flaps or panels 2t! and 2| are secured each along one edge to the appropriate seam [8 so that one panel can fold downwards and the other upwards to lie in substantially the same vertical plane flush against the full width of the end walls of the opened bag. When the bag is empty and collapsed these two pairs of flaps can lie close together lengthwise of the bag. The lower panels 2! can be stiff for their full dimensions, but it is preferred to include flexible or non-stiffened parts 20a with the upper flaps, these non-stiffened parts being joined to the seams l8 and facilitating folding of the flaps 20 when the bag or case is fully packed, in which event the lower flaps or panel 2| can remain in contact with the appropriate parts of the end walls 8 and 9.

To prevent the collapsible upper parts of the end walls of the open bag from opening outwards when the bag is closed and to safely secure the packed articles in the bag, the centres of the tops of the end walls 8 and 9 are provided with straps 22 and 23, one of which carries a buckle 24 to receive the other.

The flap 5 can be provided with a series of slots 25 to receive a D 26 on the wall 3 to enable the bag or case to be locked by a padlock 21 passed through such D.

It will'be seen that when the case is closed it is carried by the two handles l4 and IS in the same manner as the usual holdall type of bag, but instead of the mouth being at the top of the bag it is at one side thereof.

We claim:

1. A suit case or the like comprising, when open, a base, flexible end Walls and flexible side walls attached to said base, one of said side walls having a prolongation of the upper part in the form of a flap, all of said walls being pre-creased and foldable along a line spaced from, but parallel to, their upper edges, said end walls being adapted to fold inwards toward each other, one of said side walls being adapted to fold over the folded end walls, said flap being adapted to fold over and cover the folded section of the other walls, a downwardly extending handle on said flap, and a cooperating handle on said base for carrying the case, whereby the side wall between said handles becomes the top and said base becomes a side wall of the case when the case is closed and when it is carried by said handles.

2. A suit case or the like as recited in claim 1, comprising means to fasten said flap to said other side wall.

3. A suit case or the like as recited in claim 1, comprising foldable means inside case adapted to maintain the case against collapse when it is fully opened.

4. A suit case or the like as recited in claim 1 comprising a strip of stifi sheet material fastened along one edge to each of said end walls along said fold line and adapted to be folded with the upper part of said end walls to sustain them against collapse when said case is fully opened.

- 5. A suit case or the like as recited in claim 1 comprising a strap secured to the upper edge of each of said end walls and means to secure said straps together to maintain said end walls in said inwardly'folded position when said case is closed.

ERNEST EDWARD LANGFORD. ARTHUR THOMAS GARNETT. 

